OAKLAND - Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Sunday the National Basketball Players Assn. wants the NBA to bar Clippers owner Donald Sterling from playoff games the rest of this season and impose the maximum penalty allowed under league bylaws if racist remarks purportedly made by Sterling can be verified as his. Johnson, who is assisting the players union in its response to the controversy surrounding Sterling, said the players have asked for...

In the wake of an altercation in Hawaii last week that resulted in allegations of a sexual assault, as many as six Westlake High freshman football players could be trying to leave the program. An official at Crespi confirmed on Tuesday that several players from Westlake inquired about enrolling at the Encino campus. Crespi's administatration, however, declined to accept them. School and district officials said that a group of Westlake varsity players got into a "pushing and shoving" incident last Wednesday with freshman players at a Hawaii hotel.

SAN FRANCISCO - As the Clippers were preparing for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, they found themselves also having to deal with allegations that Clippers owner Donald Sterling made racist comments about African Americans. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who were the only Clippers players who spoke with the media after practice Saturday, both stuck with the theme that they were "focused" on playing Sunday and were only "here to talk about the Golden State Warriors.

More than 2,000 former NFL players and their families will file a “master complaint” in court Thursday, consolidating their nearly 100 concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL. The complaint will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging that the NFL “deliberately and fraudulently concealed from its players the link between football-related head impacts and long-term neurological injuries.” ...

Sophomore Brady Shockey and juniors Ryan Pena and Scott Christopherson from Santa Ana Foothill have transferred to JSerra. Shockey, an outfielder, batted .353 as a freshman. Christopherson is a left-handed pitcher who was 2-3 last season. Pena is an outfielder whose father was a standout at Santa Ana Mater Dei in the 1980s. Foothill's coach, Gary Fishel, has resigned. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

There was something strange happening Friday night during the Chaminade-Morningside Western Division football playoff opener. Chaminade players were sending out tweets via Twitter in the middle of the game. I'm thinking, how did the players get access to their phones during the game? As it turns out, Coach Ed Croson pulled his starters in the second quarter of the 71-8 victory and allowed them to shower at halftime and return for the second half in street clothes. So that explained all the tweets.

The NHL Players' Assn. made what it called a move in the NHL's direction by presenting a revised, five-year proposal during collective bargaining talks with the league Wednesday morning in New York. Donald Fehr, the NHLPA's executive director, said the new “comprehensive” proposal narrows the gap between the union and management to $182 million over five years. However, the NHL has disputed the union's calculations in previous proposals, so the offer might not be enough to end the dispute or persuade the NHL to lift the lockout it imposed Sept.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Angels reassigned one player to minor league camp and optioned two others to minor league teams Monday, reducing the number of players in big-league camp to 50. Reassigned to minor league camp was right-hander A.J. Schugel, who pitched in two games this spring, throwing five innings, allowing four runs and 10 hits. Schugel, 23, was 6-8 with a 2.89 ERA at double A Arkansas in 2012. Optioned to triple-A Salt Lake was left-hander Brandon Sisk. The former Azusa Pacific University pitcher made two appearances this spring, giving up a run and a hit in two innings.

Chaminade Coach Todd Wolfson is borrowing a page from the Pete Carroll playbook in trying to have some fun during the pressure of going for a championship. He had been telling his players to prepare for a "hard" practice session on Wednesday in preparing for Saturday's Division III Southern California Regional final against Santa Margarita. Instead, he went to In-N-Out and bought 32 double-doubles. The team will only concentrate on shooting Wednesday while enjoying its moment of food ecstasy.

Yasiel Puig's journey to Los Angeles - and riches with the Dodgers - is a serpentine tale of drug cartels, nighttime escapes and international human smuggling. Yet in the booming marketplace for Cuban ballplayers, it is far from unique. Since 2009, nearly three dozen have defected, with at least 25 of them signing contracts worth more than a combined $315 million. Many, like Puig, were spirited away on speedboats to Mexico, Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Once there, they typically were held by traffickers before being released to agents - for a price.

The NCAA and its member institutions often refer to "student-athletes," but the front side of the term isn't often highlighted in a sports section. We asked officials from the Southland's Division I universities to point us toward their best and brightest - the teams that made classroom performance a priority. Here is what we found at Loyola Marymount: The Seaver School of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount is not for the faint of academic heart. But it's where a fair share of Loyola Marymount athletes - 27 of 395 to be exact - focus their studies.

The NCAA and its member institutions often refer to "student-athletes," but the front side of the term isn't often highlighted in a sports section. We asked officials from the Southland's Division I universities to point us toward their best and brightest - the teams that made classroom performance a priority. Here is what we found at Northridge: Above the desk on the left side of his office is an acknowledgment of what Marcelo Leonardi considers to be his proudest accomplishment as Cal State Northridge's women's water polo coach.

Their big guys played big, the leaders led by fearless example, and the Kings, on the brink of going home for the summer, got the result they so urgently needed, a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at Staples Center that extended their season by at least one more game. "We're alive," said winger Marian Gaborik, who played a huge part in resuscitating them by scoring their first and fifth goals. Justin Williams scored twice in a three-goal spree in the second period, and rookie Tyler Toffoli chipped in with the kind of skillful goal the Kings need from him in the short- and long-term future.

Don't look for the union label around USC's or UCLA's football practice facilities any time soon. Football players at both schools are aware that Northwestern players might unionize. But when asked about the issue recently during spring practice, several said they were only casually monitoring the situation. "There has been some small talk around the locker room," said UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley. "We'll get a lot more information. Obviously, they are starting something. " Northwestern players will vote Friday on whether to unionize.

Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic was named the NBA's most improved player, the league announced Wednesday. Dragic received 408 of a possible 1,134 points, including 65 first-place votes. The runner-up was Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson, who had 13 first-place votes and 158 total points. New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis finished third with 16 first-place votes and 155 points. Dragic, who entered the season with a career scoring average of 9.5 points a game, improved to a career-best 20.3 a game.

There are 65 players left for a final tryout to make the Brewers team for the Area Code Games next month in Long Beach. The final tryout is July 16 at USC. Here's the link to list of the players still alive. Among the players are Marcus Wilson of Gardena Serra, Blake Rutherford of Chaminade, Chris Betts of Long Beach Wilson and Jack Flaherty of Harvard-Westlake. There's six pitchers on the list who are committed to national champion UCLA. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Having a day off on Wednesday, Simi Valley baseball Coach Matt La Belle decided to take his players on a short field trip to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum to see the best exhibition of baseball memorabilia outside of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Through Sept. 4, the Reagan Library has a baseball exhibition of more than 800 artifacts . Much of it is from the collection of L.A.-based Gary Cypres. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com